Jaycee Dugard rescuer: Five years later, heroic officer speaks out for first time with a candid and open look at the sudden and unwanted fame and its aftermath.

Share Article

Five years after the heroic rescue of kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard, one of her rescuers, Ally Jacobs, is speaking out for the first time about what she calls “the behind the scenes look” at the aftermath.

Ally Jacobs, retired UC Berkeley Police Officer

Everyone kept asking me when I was going to write a book about my experiences.

Brentwood, CA (PRWEB)August 19, 2014

Bay Area resident, Officer Ally Jacobs was one of two women who used their intuition and training to save Jaycee Dugard, who was held captive for 18 years by convicted kidnapper and rapist Phillip Garrido (El Dorado County Superior Court case #P10CRF0364).

As a result of the rescue, Jacobs became an instant celebrity, appearing on national television shows and becoming a “household name”—as the nation was gripped with Dugard’s amazing story of tenacity, rescue, and the love she had for her daughters born in captivity.

But Jacobs’ short-lived but intense celebrity came with a price, a price she openly and candidly discusses in a screenplay based on her life experiences, which enabled her to be the intuitive cop that she was.

“No one understands what it’s like to go from being a mom and a cop to being in the public eye so quickly,” Jacobs says. “Suddenly, the people in my life (family, friends and coworkers) were having to deal with all of the attention I was receiving—attention I didn’t ask for or want.”

Soon, Jacobs was a divorced single mom, forced to medically retire from the job she loved after a work related injury. And she had something else to worry about: the safety of her children!

Jacobs’ sons and their childhood antics were already viral—but anonymous—stars on YouTube when Dugard was rescued. Jacobs knew there was trouble when a producer on a very popular national television show recognized her children and threatened to report that she was their mom. “It would be a huge story!” the producer said. Jacobs says it was a final straw.

Jacobs feared that revealing the true identity of her now-famous children would put them at risk. “There are a lot of sick people out there and I felt I had to protect them and their identities for as long as possible,“ she said.

She has successfully kept their anonymity for 7 years and if anyone was going to disclose their true identity, it would be her…in her own way…in her own time, she said.

Telling her story is important, she says, because people need to understand what happens to people once the instant celebrity fades and the cameras stop rolling … how lives can be affected negatively even through a very positive experience.

“By telling people about what happened to me, maybe I can help others who will have to face a similar situation,” she said. “Everyone kept asking me when I was going to write a book about my experiences. Truth is, I finished writing my book/screenplay three years ago. I just haven’t done anything with it because it is a very personal story that I wasn’t sure I wanted to share…but I think it is time and this screenplay was the best way to do it.”

Jacobs is available for interviews. The screenplay is currently not represented.